KI4MVP
formerly LJ4MVP
- Joined
- Jun 30, 2005
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Do they actually start real practice today, or is it mostly just a media day?
With no TeamUSA to watch, and with our exiting the playoffs a round sooner than expected, and with the Browns and Indians offering nothing at all to fill the time, this feels like it's been a long offseason.
This is the cavs 40th season and expectation have never been higher. Last year we had the best record in the league for the first time in franchise history, breaking the teams previous best win total by a full 9 games. We also had the best player in the league who became the first Cavs player to win league MVP. But it ended in a sour note when we unexpectedly lost in the ECF to the Magic in a series that presented serious matchup problems for us.
In the offseason we've replaces Ben Wallace, Sasha Pavlovic, Terence Kinsey, Wally Szczerbiac and Lorenzen Wright with Shaq, Anthony Parker, Jamario Moon, Leon Powe and Daniel Green. Also, reports indicate that Daniel Gibson is over the foot issues that hampered his play last season.
On paper, we're better than the 66 win team we had last year. Does that translate into more wins.
Shaq is one of the best players in league history, but he's also 37. He was 3rd team all NBA last year, a bounce back season from a couple of years of diminished play. Can he give us the level of play he gave the suns last year. He can guard players like Howard down low and put the pressure on defense on the other end of the court, but will his problems defending the pick and roll be an issue?
Can Mike Brown help get him in position to be more effective at that? He's gotten better defense from Z than anyone thought possible given his feet issues. Will he do the same for Shaq? THe whole Mike Brown/Shaq relationship is worth watching. Shaq responded well playing for Phil Jackson, but he threw Stan Van Gundy, who is a solid coach, under the bus.
Moon and Parker give us the length and athleticism that we missed last year, and the guys htey replace did nothing for us against the magic. But Wally played a significant role in our regular season success - filling in holes for injured players.
Another thing to look at is how much can Shaq and Z play on the court together ala Hakeem and Sampson's twin towers in Houston years ago. Many think we need a stretch 4 to space the floor. Z can stretch the floor with his solid 18 foot jumper, but how will that work defensively if the other team has their own stretch big like Rashard and Rasheed.
JJ was hampered with back issues last year, can he break out this year?
Is Green ready to step in and contribute when needed? He's not the same situation as JJ, who left college early, he got quite a bit of experience at UNC. from wikipedia
Can Delonte get is off court issues straightened out and give us the kind of play we saw last year?
What does Mo do to bounce back from the way he played against orlando. That should drive him to work hard at improving his game.
LeBron took the playoff loss hard - what has he done to get better for this season? More work on his outside shot? Work on his post game? Improve his defense?
A lot of questions to answer this year, it should be fun to find the answers. With Shaq and LeBron on the same team, the team will draw more attention than ever.
With no TeamUSA to watch, and with our exiting the playoffs a round sooner than expected, and with the Browns and Indians offering nothing at all to fill the time, this feels like it's been a long offseason.
This is the cavs 40th season and expectation have never been higher. Last year we had the best record in the league for the first time in franchise history, breaking the teams previous best win total by a full 9 games. We also had the best player in the league who became the first Cavs player to win league MVP. But it ended in a sour note when we unexpectedly lost in the ECF to the Magic in a series that presented serious matchup problems for us.
In the offseason we've replaces Ben Wallace, Sasha Pavlovic, Terence Kinsey, Wally Szczerbiac and Lorenzen Wright with Shaq, Anthony Parker, Jamario Moon, Leon Powe and Daniel Green. Also, reports indicate that Daniel Gibson is over the foot issues that hampered his play last season.
On paper, we're better than the 66 win team we had last year. Does that translate into more wins.
Shaq is one of the best players in league history, but he's also 37. He was 3rd team all NBA last year, a bounce back season from a couple of years of diminished play. Can he give us the level of play he gave the suns last year. He can guard players like Howard down low and put the pressure on defense on the other end of the court, but will his problems defending the pick and roll be an issue?
Can Mike Brown help get him in position to be more effective at that? He's gotten better defense from Z than anyone thought possible given his feet issues. Will he do the same for Shaq? THe whole Mike Brown/Shaq relationship is worth watching. Shaq responded well playing for Phil Jackson, but he threw Stan Van Gundy, who is a solid coach, under the bus.
Moon and Parker give us the length and athleticism that we missed last year, and the guys htey replace did nothing for us against the magic. But Wally played a significant role in our regular season success - filling in holes for injured players.
Another thing to look at is how much can Shaq and Z play on the court together ala Hakeem and Sampson's twin towers in Houston years ago. Many think we need a stretch 4 to space the floor. Z can stretch the floor with his solid 18 foot jumper, but how will that work defensively if the other team has their own stretch big like Rashard and Rasheed.
JJ was hampered with back issues last year, can he break out this year?
Is Green ready to step in and contribute when needed? He's not the same situation as JJ, who left college early, he got quite a bit of experience at UNC. from wikipedia
Can Delonte get is off court issues straightened out and give us the kind of play we saw last year?
What does Mo do to bounce back from the way he played against orlando. That should drive him to work hard at improving his game.
LeBron took the playoff loss hard - what has he done to get better for this season? More work on his outside shot? Work on his post game? Improve his defense?
A lot of questions to answer this year, it should be fun to find the answers. With Shaq and LeBron on the same team, the team will draw more attention than ever.
